SBS turns to History as Olympics alternative

SBS has confirmed a showcase of History titles to screen as an alternative to Olympics coverage in August.

A Making History season of documentaries and films airs from August 5 – 22.

The showcase includes 10 free-to-air television premieres, covering the Nazi history of the Olympics, Bonnie & Clyde, Einstein, Marco Polo, JFK and more.

There are also replays of titles on Muhammad Ali, Steve Jobs & Bill Gates, NASA, Bin Laden and more.

Making History highlights:

The Nazi Games: Berlin 1936 – Friday, 5 August at 7.30pm on SBS **Premiere**
This documentary explores how the Olympic Games as we have come to know them were shaped by the collaboration of interests between the Nazis and the IOC in Berlin in 1936.

Movie: Ali – Friday, 5 August at 8.30pm on SBS
Behind Ali’s seismic accomplishments, superstar Will Smith and Academy Award nominated writer/director Michael Mann will take you into the heart and life of the boxer, the legend, and more importantly, the man.

Inside Einstein’s Mind – Monday, 8 August at 7.30pm on SBS **Premiere**
From the first spark of an idea to the discovery of the expanding universe, the Big Bang, black holes and dark energy, we uncover the inside story of Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, the greatest science story of all time.

The Day Hitler Died – Wednesday, 10 August at 7.35pm on SBS **Premiere**
The Day Hitler Died is the story of Hitler’s final hours told by people who were there. It features exclusive forgotten interviews, believed lost for 65 years, with members of Hitler’s inner circle who were trapped with him in his bunker as the Russians fought to take Berlin.

Movie: The Eichmann Show – Wednesday, 10 August at 8.30pm on SBS
Anthony LaPaglia and Martin Freeman star in the extraordinary story of the trial of one of the Second World War’s most notorious Nazis.

The Day Kennedy Died – Thursday, 11 August at 7.30pm on SBS **Premiere**
From the journalist who was with the Kennedy family all day to the nurse who checked his vital signs at the hospital, this special is a first-hand account from the people that were there. It casts new light on that tragic day in 1963.

Genius: Personal Computers: Jobs vs Gates – Thursday, 11 August at 9.30pm on SBS
In the mid-20th century, the “computer” was a behemoth – a two ­tonne machine that sat in research labs and university tech centres, inaccessible to the public, but not for long. In the 1980s, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs break out in a heated battle to bring the computer to the masses. The race is one to see who will run the world’s personal computers — a battle in which Jobs’ ego may get the best of him.

In The Shadow of the Moon – Friday, 12 August at 7.30pm on SBS
The crew members of NASA’s Apollo missions come together to tell their story in their own words.

1964 – Friday, 12 August at 9.20pm on SBS **Premiere**
1964 was the year the Beatles came to America, Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali, and three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi. Based in part on The Last Innocent Year: America in 1964 by Jon Margolis, 1964 follows some of the most influential figures of the time, but also brings out from the shadows the stories of ordinary Americans whose principled stands would set the country onto a new and different course.

Movie: Apocalypto – Sunday, 14 August at 8.30pm on SBS
As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, Jaguar Paw, a young man captured for sacrifice, flees to avoid his fate in Mel Gibson’s Oscar nominated epic.

The Bomb – Monday, 15 August at 7.30pm on SBS
Explore the most destructive invention in human history, the nuclear bomb, how it changed the world and how it continues to loom large in our lives.

The Queen by the Prince of Wales – Tuesday, 16 August at 7.30pm **Premiere**
Drawing on archive news reels and never-before-seen home movies and photographs, The Prince reflects back on Her Majesty’s 60 year reign – both as the UK’s Queen and as his own mother.

The Secret File of Marco Polo – Wednesday, 17 August at 7.30pm on SBS **Premiere**
Did Marco Polo, the most illustrious traveller in history, ever go to China? A debate continues as to whether the Venetian’s book is a personal account of China’s 13th-century Middle Kingdom and its marvels. Scientists, western scholars and Chinese historians have uncovered striking new evidence that the son of Venetian merchants had been to China.

Movie: Salute – Wednesday, 17 August at 8.30pm on SBS **Premiere**
The Black Power salute at the 1968 Mexico Olympics was an iconic moment in the US civil rights movement. What part did the white Australian who ran second play and what price did these athletes pay?

Bonnie & Clyde – Thursday, 18 August at 7.30pm on SBS **Premiere**
Discover the true story of the most famous outlaw couple in U.S. history, Bonnie and Clyde.

9/11: 102 Minutes That Changed America – Friday, 19 August at 7.30pm on SBS
An intensely personal and new perspective of the tragedy, telling that morning’s events in real time, as they were experienced by people around New York, through their camera lenses.

Movie: Zero Dark Thirty – Friday, 19 August at 9.25pm on SBS
Jessica Chastain stars in the story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man, Osama Bin-Laden, from the Oscar-winning team of director-producer Kathryn Bigelow and writer-producer Mark Boal.

After The Wave – Monday, 22 August at 8.30pm on SBS
After The Wave tells the untold story of Australia’s extraordinary role in what became the world’s greatest forensic detective operation